Like any normal day, I was here at the Starbucks waiting in line to order my drink. She was at the other end of the counter waiting for her drink when she turned and looked in my direction. This was not the first time we had noticed each other, as we are both normally here around the same time. I happened to smile and she returned the smile.
I noticed she took her drink and instead of walking towards the doors like she normally did, this time she sat down by the window. Many things are going through my mind while I wait to order, should I look towards her until I receive another smile, if she decides to smile this time. Should I grab my drink and also sit in her vicinity. Or should I simply go talk to her. My mind is running a mile a minute, asking myself if she is sitting while she waits for someone; a date, her boyfriend, her husband, or maybe even her girlfriend. As I walk towards her, to reach the end of the counter and get my drink. I accidently bump a fixture and one of their bagged pound coffee drops. I can hear the whistling of the bagged coffee as its flying towards the ground. Then all of a sudden a loud explosion echoes through the store. This catches the attention of another customer who was standing there and her. It was apparent that it was not as loud as I felt it. She looks at me, piercing my eyes and all the way down to my stomach. She chuckles and smiles at me again.
So I grab my drink, red-faced and all. I decide to start a conversation with her. I approach her and say, "Hi there, how are you doing?" She looks at me, smiles, and responds "I am doing good thanks for asking." The door I was waiting to be opened as I was expecting a "how about yourself" response is closed shut. So I respond, "That's great. At least you are not running into fixtures and dropping merchandise like others". She replies, "No I am not" and smiles. Again the door is wide shut. At this moment I am more embarrassed then I was when I dropped the drink. As I take my agony of defeat and start to turn around to walk out the door, she says, "Would you like to sit". At this moment my adrenaline is pumping and my natural sarcastic self replies with, "yeah thanks, that was my intent, I was going to go sit down over there and enjoy my drink". She laughs and says, "No, I meant if you wanted to join me". At this moment, I apologized for my comment and we shared a laugh.
We are sitting there and we introduced each other and are talking, laughing, and getting to know one another. Before we know it two hours gone flown by. She mentioned how she has seen me before and that she decided to come in on her day off and sit, hoping I would come and talk to her. She mentioned how she is normally on a rush to get to work so she would not have enough time and wouldn't want to make me feel like she would be rejecting me if I would have approached her then.
We are in our third hour, we have shared our dreams, plans and information about ourselves. It feels like we have a strong connection and make a perfect match. As we sit there, she reaches over and grabs hold of my hand, I feel a jolt of electricity rush through my body as the warmth of her fingers caresses the back of my hand. Then she mutters the most bizarre words, "Hi how are you doing today, what will you be having today?"
In dismay, I blink and turn my head and realize that I am standing in line and it's the barista who muttered those words, snapping me back to reality.
You see, it was her initial smile that sent me to a whirlwind of a fantasy world. So next time you are somewhere and someone smiles your way, smile back. Even if it's simply out of common courtesy.
You never know what a smile can do for a person.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
